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“I know that face.” Dad pulled me from my thoughts as he greeted the boys then sat down across the table from me. He brushed away a few cereal crumbs as he made space for himself. The boys scurried to make room and moved their books to the den. “Worrying about things you can’t control won’t help, son. All you can do is be prepared for the unexpected. What’s got you fretting today?”
“It’s just a constant worry that our families and even some of our friends in town could become a target. The damage we bring to the Cartel on each of our missions, the loss of money with every rescue, and our constant presence in their territory has got to infuriate them.”
“True.” He tapped the side of his mug.
“We’re much more careful than we used to be, though, and I always knew as time went on, we’d have to tighten up on the way we did things. I’m not sure about the boys’ future, what it’s going to be like at Shadows. I’d do everything in my power to protect them. All of them.”
“I know, we’ll all do everything in our power. When you’re finished with this, why don’t we have a meeting with the others, reevaluate everything? Maybe that’ll give you more peace of mind.”
“I think I need that.”
“Remember, Daniel, if something doesn’t feel right here,” he pointed to his chest, “say something. We can’t help if we don’t know.”
“Copy that.”
“By the way, Frank called me.” He caught my attention before my head spun again. Cole caught his words as he came back into the kitchen and quickly sat down next to me.
“Oh?”
“He said Ray was sending a new guy he recruited over to the boys’ high school and wanted to know if you’d sit in and evaluate him.”
“Yes, I can do that.” Frank had gotten Ray a position training and overseeing the new recruits at Camp Green Water. The camp wasn’t that far away, and he was really enjoying his role there.
Though we now had four new men who had replaced my original friends on Blackstone, we were still a strong, unified team, and we’d rescued countless lives. “Cole, I’ll give you guys a ride to school, then?” I asked as I gathered up my papers.
“Sounds good. Give me ten. Oh, Grandpa, we’ll need some ammo before we head out to camp this weekend. Mark and I were practicing.”
“I’ll grab some from up at the house. Have a good day at school.”
“Will do.” Cole tucked his dishes away in the dishwasher and disappeared down the hall with a call to Mark to hurry.
“You did good, son.” Dad beamed at me as he often did whenever the boys were around. “They’re going to be excellent soldiers one day.”
“Well, I learned from the best.” I squeezed his shoulder on the way out. “See you for dinner and that meeting.”
“Copy that.”
The gymnasium was full of hopeful teenagers. They eagerly buzzed from table to table to see what kinds of jobs were out there. I inspected a table with three recruiters and listened as one described how joining had changed his life and helped him stay out of trouble. Another described how he enjoyed a challenge. He did a good job of sidetracking the kids who asked too many questions about how many kills he had and other uncomfortable subjects. The kids didn’t realize that these recruiters were not much older than they were, so the decision on kill or be killed wasn’t something they’d had to tackle, and one I hoped they’d never have to. I took note of two of their names. The third fellow, who appeared to be the oldest, and who was no doubt the leader of their group, seemed a bit uninterested when I picked up a pamphlet. He should have stood and acknowledged me even if he was unaware that I served our country. Soldiers were taught respect, and there wasn’t any of that from this man.
“Staff Sergeant Peters.” I addressed him by name, and he didn’t seem to catch that I used his rank. That in itself should have been a big clue that I knew his world. “Where is the talk being held?”
“Huh?” He leaned back and again didn’t stand like the others.
“Your career-night talk, where is it being held?”
“Um…” He leaned forward and pointed to a paper that read Room 105.
“Thanks,” I muttered and signaled to Cole I was unimpressed. His face hardened, and I knew he would check him out himself.
Room 105 was just inside the main doors. I went in and settled myself at the back. When Mark and Cole came in, we chatted for a moment, and I let them know I wouldn’t join them in the front, as I didn’t want to be spotted. They sat across the aisle a few rows up. When Frank suggested I attend, he’d chuckled and asked me to lay low. He had realized that some of the young recruiters were already on to us. We wanted to see how they were promoting the military to the young people, and we were interested in how they engaged with those who were truly interested, and—I thought of Staff Sergeant Peters—with those who weren’t.
To my surprise, Staff Sergeant Peters was the one who came in to speak. Cole looked over his shoulder at me, and I gave him a nod.
“Hi, I’m Staff Sergeant Peters, with the US Army.” His tone sounded totally disinterested, but he did manage to force a smile to some of the kids who stared up at him like he was some kind of movie star. “You’ll be spending the next forty-five minutes with me.” Two kids immediately stuck their hands in the air. Like typical high school students, they just wanted to ask questions. I wondered how he’d handle it. He put down his script, sat on the corner of the desk, and let the kids fire away.
“Is there a signing bonus for 92 Yankee?” a kid in the front asked.
“Oh, you want to do logistics?”
